Hispanic evangelicals hold potent votes, experts say

CAMPAIGN 2008

For the Rev. Nino GonzM-alez, last year's contentious debate over immigration reform was a rude awakening -- one that has propelled him into the political arena.

Mainstream white and black evangelical leaders initially denounced the bipartisan effort to create a path to legalization for undocumented workers. Some even argued for the roundup and deportation of millions of Hispanic immigrants in the U.S., the very people to whom GonzM-alez ministers every day at Iglesia el Calvario just south of Orlando.

"I was stunned, shocked and surprised," GonzM-alez said of the initial reaction of those he thought of as his spiritual allies. "They turned their backs on the Hispanics."

GonzM-alez and other Hispanic pastors across the country seized on the debate to come together as a political force gaining momentum. Hispanic Pentecostals, some experts say, can become an important swing vote in the 2008 elections in key demographic battlegrounds such as Florida, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and North Carolina.

GonzM-alez said he was prompted to act by the hostile tone some religious and political leaders took as they discussed immigration. He believes in securing the borders but is critical of the lack of a national policy that takes into consideration the millions of immigrants that are already here.

"What do you do with them? Arrest them?" he asked. "When people come forward in his church to accept Jesus as their savior, I don't say: 'Do you have papers?' " he said. "I've been called to help people regardless of whether they are here legally."

The immigration debate soon propelled other pastors from Florida and beyond to become involved. For some, this was a historic departure from a more passive posture. For nearly a century, Hispanic Pentecostals in the U.S. avoided electoral politics. Traditionally conservative on social and family issues such as abortion and homosexuality, Pentecostals broke ranks with other Hispanics and voted Republican in recent elections, according to recent surveys.

But GonzM-alez cautioned that Hispanic Pentecostals are "not a monolithic" group. "We Latino evangelicals have been misread by political parties all along," GonzM-alez said. "We are conservative on many values. But we have divided opinions on health care, on the death penalty . . ." In fact, Latino Protestants have shifted in their political allegiance in recent years, said John Green of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a nonpartisan research group based in Washington. They voted in growing numbers for Republican candidates in 2000 and 2004 but moved back toward the Democrats in the 2006 midterm congressional elections.

"This is a religious community that moves around politically," Green said.

However, he agreed Hispanic evangelicals "could be crucial" one way or the other in demographic battleground states.

"No one thinks Texas is going to be competitive in the presidential race," Green said, but added that Hispanic evangelicals "might matter in congressional elections."

Which way Hispanic evangelicals will vote, however, is difficult to predict.

"Hispanics [Pentecostals] don't vote as a herd," said HernM-an Padilla, a South Florida-based political commentator and former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

In the 2000 elections, many mainstream Christian leaders came out in favor of George Bush and the Republican Party. A similar movement within Hispanic churches, Padilla said, is unlikely.

"That is not part of our political and religious culture," said Padilla, a former Republican mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico. "[For pastors] to say, 'This is the way to vote,' will be counterproductive."

GonzM-alez agreed. Although he encourages people to vote and to run for office, he doesn't get involved in party affiliation.

"I don't go there," he said. "I don't know what is going to happen in November."

What is certain is that this is a pivotal moment for GonzM-alez, whom experts see as an emerging national leader of U.S. Hispanic Christians.

El Calvario, where GonzM-alez has been in the pulpit for seven years, is one of about a dozen Hispanic Protestant megachurches in the country and the second-largest in Florida, with an average weekend attendance of 5,000. The church, a member of the Assemblies of God denomination, is an 80,000 square-foot complex set on 12 acres on West Oak Ridge Road.

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, an evangelical organization serving about 15 million members, said GonzM-alez was part of something "bigger than El Calvario."

"Nino is one of our exemplary national leaders," Rodriguez said, suggesting that his influence could rival that of other evangelical-megachurch pastors such as Rick Warren.

"We've pushed Nino a bit," Rodriguez said. "We told him, 'We need you on a national platform. You have the spiritual fortitude and intellectual and business acumen to represent our community well."

GonzM-alez said he's not concerned about whether he is ready for such a role.